IYK takes glimpse at new UAS hardware

Saturday

May 25, 2013 at 10:27 AMMay 25, 2013 at 11:06 AM

Cal UAS set to utilize latest tool in its kit.

Jack Barnwelljbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

Three engineers hovered over a set of hardware and software components at the Inyokern Airport administration building as part of the latest advance in technology set to be integrated into an unmanned aircraft systems project.As the three engineers, two consultants for Cal Unmanned Aircraft Systems Portal and one from R3 Engineering, worked, the Inyokern-based team leader watched.The new components, an all weather sense-and-avoid technology donated by East Coast-based R3 Engineering, is something Eileen Shibley, Cal UAS Portal's team leader, said would be a step forward."It's a huge step forward and a huge opportunity," Shibley said Thursday. "It is another tool in our toolbox."Cal UAS Portal is one of 50 teams in 37 states applying for one of the six Federal Air Administration test and research site designations for unmanned systems.Congress introduced two laws in 2012 directing the FAA to begin paving a path to introduce unmanned aircraft vehicles into the national airspace by 2015. The FAA currently holds a tight leash on the use of civilian UAVs, a technology long used by the military and intelligence agencies.The push came on the heels of sharp lobbying by private sector businesses that saw untapped potential in utilizing the devices for a wide spectrum of uses.ReNae Contarino, R3 Engineering co-founder, used the analogy of phones when describing her company's technology."We all had to have lines for land phones and now we're going to cellphone technology where all the information is out there," Contarino said Thursday. "We just have to write the applications to receive and process it and then use it."The technology would essentially utilize algorithms to alter a UAV's course based on other aircrafts' distance from destination, distance from, straight flight and proximity to other aircraft.Additionally, its open architecture-based approach would allow reception of signals from other sensor technologies like radar.Contarino said the technology was very low cost, low weight and low in power consumption."It is very compatible with the unmanned aerial systems," she said. "And 85 percent of unmanned aircraft vehicles that are out there are very small and do not have this capability."In short, Contarino said it would be a big step in integrating UAVs into the national airspace.Cal UAS Portal consultant James Jewell had connected R3 with Shibley's team based on the company's development of the technology.Jewell said the technology was applicable to all general aviation, including remote areas like Inyokern."They can install for a low cost with no power drain a capability to sense and avoid any surrounding aircraft or UAVs," Jewell said.In addition to the low cost and sensory systems, the AWSAS is compliant with both legacy and Automatic Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) – something the FAA is advocating as its next generation (NEXTGEN) traffic control management system.In May, the Inyokern-based team acquired a DVB-T receiver, a low-cost alternative to an ADS-B setup, and configured it to pick up NEXTGEN signals from commercial aircraft."We want to be able to have the interoperability of all these assets with our other manned aircraft," Contarino said. "We also have to develop the safety case so the FAA embraces the integration of unmanned aerial vehicles Shibley said given the Inyokern-led team's remoteness, the technology would allow for greater flexibility."We can set any kind of test that we want and then control that test," Shibley said. "We can get as much data as we can in a whole different set of formats in different aircraft all at one time, and we can make as simple or as complicated as we want all at one time."The ultimate goal however, is safety and excellence, something that Shibley, Jewell and Contarino all agreed on."I think the overall objective is a safer national airspace and that is what drives R3 as a company," Jewell said. "This effort is trying to ensure that the introduction of UAVs poses no threat."Contarino added because of this, Cal UAS would need all the tools it needed to accomplish this goal in its bid for a test and research site designation."It is not just any one element, it has to be a cohesive effort," Contarino said. "There is policy, procedure, technology and they all have to come together."Shibley said that consultant Stephen Miller, an electric engineer, was being trained to work the technology by R3 engineer Michael Contarino, to work the technology."Michael said that of all the people he's taught or trained over the years, Stephen (Miller) picked it up the quickest," Shibley said in a followup interview Thursday night.Shibley called Miller a great asset to the Cal UAS Portal effort."We are so incredibly lucky to have someone of his caliber," Shibley said. "It's the key aspect and speaks to the intellectual capital in the whole aerospace valley."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.